Key clinical point: Attempting discontinuation of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) or tofacitinib may be a feasible option in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and can be pursued after achieving stable control of disease activity.
Major finding: During a mean follow-up period of 2.1 years after discontinuing bDMARD or tofacitinib, disease flare occurred in 76.3% of patients (incidence rate 0.36 per person-year), with the median time to flare being 1.6 years (95% CI 0.9-2.6 years) and 89% of patients regaining remission or low disease activity within 1 month of restarting the previous treatment.
Study details: This was a prospective, observational study including 97 patients with RA in sustained remission or low disease activity for ≥ 48 weeks after a stable treatment with bDMARD or tofacitinib who desired drug discontinuation but received a stable methotrexate dose during follow-up.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the National Hospital Organization, Japan. S Mori reported receiving lecture fees from various sources .
Source: Mori S et al. Long-term outcomes after discontinuing biological drugs and tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A prospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2022;17(6):e0270391 (Jun 23). Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270391